Jorge Martín and Maverick Viñales’ season has not been easy at all, although it has been even more stormy for the 2024 champion. However, both have had to miss a large part of the season due to injuries, so they have spent much of the year working on recovery.
Now both Martín and Viñales see how that effort will bear fruit, and both will return to the track for the last Grand Prix of the season, the Valencia GP, which will be held this coming weekend at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit in Cheste.
Of course, the difference between the two is quite notable. And Viñales, who had been suffering from the injury since the German GP, decided to stop during the Indonesian GP to be able to focus on recovery and get his shoulder back as best as possible. That is to say, the injury had already recovered, but it was so complex that regaining strength and functionality was what required the most time on the part of the KTM rider.
While for Martín, the situation is totally different. After the preseason injuries, the new injury in Qatar and the accident at the Japanese GP in which he suffered a complex clavicle fracture, the man from Madrid has been pushing as much time as possible to return. In this case he had to wait for this fracture to heal, but in addition, he will have to pass the approval of the championship’s medical team to be able to get on the bike.
The important thing for Martín and Viñales is not the GP but the test on Tuesday
For both of them it is a fundamental weekend, not so much for the results they can achieve, but for taking advantage of the three days of the Grand Prix to once again gain sensations that will allow them to work reliably on the only day of testing, which will take place on the same track on Tuesday, November 18.
We must not lose sight of the fact that both KTM and Aprilia are the great contenders to get closer to Ducati. Especially in the case of Martín, the season has been so atypical and complex that all the kilometers he can add will be important in preparing for 2026, with an RS-GP that is proving competitive in the hands of his teammate Bezzecchi. If he gets the go-ahead to race, Martín will have taken part in 8 of the 22 GPs throughout the season.
While Viñales, who has been replaced by Pol Espargaró in 5 GPs, was quite competitive in the part of the season before the injury. In fact, in Qatar he achieved a second place, which he was dispossessed of due to tire pressure, so there will always be the question of how far the Catalan could have gone, had he not suffered that hard fall during the German GP.
